Problem Solver: Great Expectations, not-so-great experience

Barbara Marks of Arlington Heights changed her mind about signing up for the Great Expectations dating service, but couldn't get the company to give her a refund. (Darrell Goemaat, Chicago Tribune)

There have been some lonely moments for Barbara Marks since her husband of nearly four decades died five years ago.

To help fill the void, Marks recently began searching for companionship.

"I've been looking for somebody so I won't be alone anymore," she said.

So when a friend in November told her about a dating service called Great Expectations, Marks was intrigued.

Because Marks, 65, has no computer, the friend invited her over and the two filled out an online application.

"The friend told me it was supposed to be free," Marks said.

Excited by the possibilities, Marks told the dating service she was interested in joining. On Nov. 25, Great Expectations sent a car to pick up Marks from her home in Arlington Heights and drove her to the company's office in Schaumburg.

Marks said she listened to the pitch, thought it sounded good and agreed to sign up.

"(The salesman) told me they had a lot of women who did this and fell in love and got married," she said.

At no point did the salesman tell her what the service would cost, Marks said.

Before signing the contract, Marks read the two pages of fine print, she said.

"I didn't even know what I was reading," she said.

She said it wasn't until the Great Expectations employee returned with her credit card and a receipt that she realized how much the service cost — $4,495.

"My heart fell to the floor," Marks said.

She said she didn't say anything at the time because she was confused and unsure what to do.

"The price was ridiculous. When I was on the computer with my girlfriend, she said everything was supposed to be free," Marks said. "They were taking advantage of me."

Before she became widowed, her husband handled the couple's finances. After he passed, the couple's son, Phillip Marks, took over that responsibility.

Phillip Marks said he previously had placed an alert on his mother's Discover card so the credit card company would send him an email notifying him of large purchases.

On Nov. 28, the younger Marks received an alert about the $4,495 charge.

He immediately called his mother.

"This is a huge amount of money, especially for someone on a fixed income," he said.

Together, they called Great Expectations on Nov. 29 and asked the company to cancel the contract and refund her money.

They were instructed to abide by the terms of the contract.

Until then, Marks didn't even realize his mom had signed an agreement. The next morning, he went to his mother's house and read it. It said that in order to obtain a refund, his mother would have to send a letter, via certified mail, within three days of her signing.

Marks said he sent the letter, but it was already too late.

In the weeks that followed, the Markses filed a dispute with the credit card company, but Discover ruled in Great Expectations' favor, citing the signed contract.

Phillip Marks posted a message on the Problem Solver's Facebook page Monday after Discover turned the charges — now $5,600 with interest and late fees — over to a collection agency. He called the charges, and the company's refusal to issue a refund, unfair.

The Problem Solver called Great Expectations on Tuesday. Less than an hour later, the company's regional director, Josh Bryan, called back.

He said the Markses' version "is very much the opposite of what's transpired."

He said Barbara Marks reached out to Great Expectations, not the other way around.

"When we spoke to her, she was very lonely. She was crying on the phone," Bryan said. "She gave us all this stuff about her kids never coming to visit her."

Great Expectations provided her transportation to the office because she told it she couldn't drive because of a broken ankle, Bryan said.

Marks knew what she was doing and signed the contract because "she wanted to do it," Bryan said.

He disputed that she did not know how much the service cost, saying that the salesman stripped away some features of the membership to bring the cost down to $4,495, which she told the salesman she could afford, Bryan said.

"Now the fact is, the son just won't let her do anything," he said. "We were blindsided a week later when her son started calling the office. That's just not how we do business. He was calling us and yelling at us."

Bryan said Great Expectations conducted financial and criminal background checks on Barbara Marks and built a profile for her online, although it did not include a photo or video of her because she never showed up for that appointment.

"Everything is done," he said. "We actually had matches for her. We had men we had already talked to about Barbara."